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the responsibility of providing for the common safety, to try toobtain for themselves the praise of tenderness and liberality, -and to leave to the Sovereign the odious task of proscription.A law requiring all public functionaries, civil, military, eccle-siastical, without distinction of persons, to take the oaths is atleast equal. It excludes all suspicion of partiality, of personalmalignity, of secret spying and talebearing. But, if an arbi-trary discretion is left to the Government, if one nonjuringpriest is suffered to keep a lucrative benefice while another isturned with his wife and children into the street, every ejectionwill be considered as an act of cruelty, and will be imputed as acrime to the sovereign and his ministers.*

Thus the Parliament had to decide, at the same moment,what quantity of relief should be granted to the consciences ofdissenters, and what quantity of pressure should be applied tothe consciences of the clergy of the Established Church. TheKing conceived a hope that it might be in his power to effect acompromise agreeable to all parties. He flattered himself thatthe Tories might be induced to make some concession to thedissenters, on condition that the Whigs would be lenient to theJacobites. He determined to try what his personal interven-tion would effect. It chanced that, a few hours after the Lordshad read the Comprehension Bill a second time and the Billtouching the Oaths a first time, he had occasion to go down toParliament for the purpose of giving his assent to a law. Promthe throne he addressed both Houses, and expressed anearnest wish that they would consent to modify the existinglaws in such a manner that all Protestants might be admitted topublic employment.** It was well understood that he was

* As to this controversy, see Burnet, ii. 7, 8, 9.; Grey’s Debates,April 19. and 22. 1689; Commons’ Journals of April 20. and 22.; Lords’Journals, April 21.

** Lords’ Journals, March 16. 1689.

criAP.

XI.

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